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World Rabies Day

Karachi – Successive city governments in Karachi have over the decades been killing stray dogs by strychnine poisoning and shooting with guns. They have even involved the general public in this from time to time by offering cash as reward for every dog killed. What they fail to comprehend is that no matter how many dogs are killed, the remaining will move into the area and quickly breed up to the carrying capacity of their ecological niche. At a walk to create awareness about rabies near Quaid’s mausoleum on World Rabies Day, September 8, 2007, the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) advocated the Animal Birth Control method as an effective stray dog population management strategy.

Killing dogs is an ineffective approach and has never worked in Pakistan or any other country of the world. Civic authorities in Karachi should consider implementing a strategy that has been scientifically proven to be effective in many cities of the world.

says Co-founder of PAWS, Maheen Zia.

In an ABC program, street dogs are captured, sterilized, vaccinated against rabies and released back to the area from where they were captured. The percentage of dogs that need to be sterilized to curb population growth and vaccinated to prevent the spread of rabies is 70%. Over time, the number of stray dogs in the streets goes down, as do the cases of rabies. If these efforts are meticulously planned and well directed, they will be effective and long-lasting.

The ABC strategy is already in effect in many countries of the world including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Nepal, UAE, Egypt, Brazil, Greece, Kenya and Turkey. In India, which has the highest instances of rabies and dog-bite cases in South Asia, ABC has been the official government policy for some time now, including cities such as Madras, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, and Jaipur.

A sustained ABC program in every municipality of the city, in addition to proper garbage disposal, pet registration/vaccination, and awareness programs in schools and the mass media will produce dramatically visible results just as they have in other parts of the world.